I watch the trees whir by as Johnny drives down the road, the tires of his car kicking up dust behind us. I watch as a black figure races beside us along the tree line and I glance over to Johnny, who is staring ahead, his eyes glassy. I turn back to see the figure running towards us and I struggle to keep my expression flat as it jumps out in front of the car.

"Oh SHIT!" Johnny shouts, slamming on the brakes and causing the car to swerve off the road and into the grass. His hands have a deadly grip on the wheel as he stares ahead, breathing heavy. He looks over to me, reaching to rub my back. "Are you okay?"

I look up at him, nodding and see that the black figure is now at his window, staring him down with piercing blue eyes. A claw reaches up to tap the glass. Johnny snaps around and without warning swings the door open, knocking the figure to the ground. "Who the hell are you?" He snarls, standing over the monster, his fists clenched and teeth bared.

I quickly pull up on the emergency brake when I feel the car begin to roll back before leaping out the door of the driver's side, standing in front of Johnny. "Woah, woah, woah," I say, holding my hands out to him. "Calm down."

"This guy could've gotten us killed!" Johnny shouts, shoving past me towards the black mass of fur.

"Hey, hey," The new monster yelps to me. "Reed, control your man!"

Johnny suddenly stops, whirring around to look at me. "Wait," He glances back to the black monster. "You know her?" He asks, pointing back to me.

"Of course I do," She says, "That little lizard there is my best friend."

I walk over to Johnny, gently grabbing his arm, trying to not burst into laughter at his puzzled expression. "Johnny, this is Lily."

He glares down at me, rubbing between his eyes. "You told me she was dead?" He tries to keep his voice low, but isn't doing a good job. "You said my dad shot her. You took me to her tombstone."

"It was a pretty elaborate prank," Lily says, crossing two of her arms and putting the third on her hip. "Though your dad really did shoot at me," She points to a scar on her side. "Just barely grazed me though."

Johnny's jaw drops. "You…" He points to me. "You are one amazing actress."

I give him a grin, ignoring the stinging in my lips. "Yeah, it took us weeks to come up with this." I say, looking at the ground. "Though we did have a little help from your beloved sister." I shrug. "It was actually her idea."

Johnny shakes his finger at Lily, glaring at the ground. "I'm going to kill that cat." He growls. "So, you two had this planned for weeks?"

I nod. "I ran into her up at the school, she was registering her son for school."

Lily walks up to me, her wolf-like snout graced with a smile. "Mhmm," She throws an arm around me. "After I graduated I split, traveled the world with the money I had saved. Then I got pregnant with little Ryan and now that he's old enough for school I decided it's time to come home." She gives me a smirk. "I didn't even recognize her at first, especially with that big-ass ring on her finger." She looks at Johnny and snickers. "The Reed I knew in high school hated the idea of marriage, but you must've changed her mind." She lets go of me and approaches Johnny, her icy eyes darting up and down his form. "I'm surprised she married you." She says, smirking at him, her fangs barely visible. "You do not seem like her type at all, all buff and god-like." She glances back at me, giving me a wink. "She always hated those uppity, jock types."

I roll my eyes ignoring the daggers that Johnny is giving me now. "Trust me, I didn't like him when I first met him." I glance up at my husband and see that his eyes are narrowed and his jaw is clenched as he watches Lily pace around him, the sunlight catching on his tall horns. "I could barely stomach that snobby senior."

*Flashback*

The library is quiet as I flip through my Introduction to Scaring textbook, jotting down the occasional note in my journal. I glance up at all the monsters around me, some gathered in small study groups, others tossing paper wads to their sleeping peers across the room. I snort when I watch a group of guys throw a wad at their napping friend, the paper ball landing right in his open mouth. I roll my eyes, turning my attention back to my book. I turn the page and notice a strange shadow suddenly break the sunlight coming in from the large skylight of the library. I glance up at the shadow as it stretches across the table and I feel myself become visibly annoyed when I see who it is. "Go away," I hiss quietly.

I growl when I hear the chair next to me quietly scrape across the floor and the owner of the shadow sits next to me, leaning against the table. I sigh. "That doesn't look like going away to me."

"You don't mean that, freshman." Johnny says, his voice a soft whisper. I glance over to him and give him an icy glare. He throws up his hands, leaning back in the chair. "No need to be hostile, shrimp."

I look the senior up and down as he pulls something off his ROR sweater then fixing his yellow collar. "What do you want?"

"Well," His amethyst eyes look me up and down. "I really shouldn't say." He winks at me and I resist the urge to smack him upside the head with my textbook.

I arch an eyebrow at him and he snorts. "Just thought I would say hi." He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. "You looked a little lonely."

"I'm fine," I retort, looking back to my book. "But thanks for the concern."

I see him watching me out of the corner of my eye and I feel myself growing impatient. "Seriously, do you need something?"

That dumb smirk of his wavers for a second at my hostility but then he glances down at the work surrounding me. "Would you like some help?"

I look up at him and see that he is serious. I glance over to my homework packet that I set aside earlier. "Well," I start, wanting to punch myself in the face for even considering it. "I guess it wouldn't hurt."

"Great," Johnny says, reaching over me to grab the packet. He lays it out in front of him before snatching the pen from my hand. "Let's see," He flips through the pages and stops on a question that I skipped. "This one stump you?"

I nod, watching him tap my pen against one of his lower tusks. It's definitely different seeing him acting serious about something. I continue to watch him as he works the problem out, and he actually isn't paying much attention to me, and I feel my eyes begin to kind of wander. I glance up at those mahogany horns as they shine in the light and move down to his thick arms, subtle muscle definition showing through the sweater.

I lean my elbow against the table, resting my chin on my fist as I watch him write on my paper. He isn't even showing me how to do it he's just doing it. I notice his eyes glance in my direction and I quickly turn my gaze to the desk lamp across from us. I see him look back down at the paper and when I return my gaze to him he's smirking as he's writing. "See something you like, freshman?" He says, not looking up from the paper.

I feel my face get hot and I look away, using my hands to cover the red of my cheeks. I hear him stand up and step over to me, slapping the packet down in front of me. I look at what he had written and ignore that he is now standing over me, his face just inches from mine. I notice how he set one hand on the table on one side of me, and the other hand on the opposite side like he's trying to subtly pin me down. I feel his chest pressing against my back as he points to the paper. "Alright," He starts, his face right next to mine. Our cheeks are almost touching. "When doing a jump and growl scare it's really important to take not only your weight into account, but the weight of the bed." He continues to explain to me how to work out the problem and I find myself just watching him, but not listening. It's just so refreshing seeing him being helpful and not totally obnoxious.

After a few more minutes I notice he is looking at me. "You got it?" He asks, I just blink. He reaches up to snap his fingers in my face. "Hello, earth to freshman."

I shake my head and feel myself begin to blush. "Yeah," I say, trying to keep my face from ramming into his. He arches an eyebrow at me, his smirk growing. "I got it."

*End of flashback*

"Well, I'm happy you found someone little Reed," Lily says, snapping me out of my thoughts. "I wish I could've been at your wedding, though." She looks down, her ears flattening.

"Hey," I say, giving her a tight squeeze. "You're here now and that's all that matters."

She gives me a smile and glances up at Johnny. "I still can't get over that you married him." She says, pointing a thumb back to my still seething husband. "I mean, not saying it as a bad thing, just that I never expected you would end up with a guy like him." She looks back at Johnny, who slowly crosses his arms over his chest, before glancing back to me, lowering her voice. "Is he as good in bed as he looks like he should be?"

I giggle, punching her in the shoulder before whispering back. "Even better than he looks."

"I need details!" Lily gasps and I slap my hand over her mouth.

"Later," I chuckle, giving Johnny a wink. "Right now we really need to be getting back to work." I see Johnny curl his lips in a snarl and I silence him with a glare. "We need to help our friends with a problem."

Lily looks around, her face pondering. "Could I maybe assist?"

"Woah," Johnny steps forward throwing his arms out. "There are already too many monsters involved in this mess. Look what happened to Reed's mouth because of it." He gestures to my stitched lips and Lily looks them over.

"What happened?" She says, running a gentle claw over them.

I shrug. "Long story, but it's not a big deal." I walk over to Johnny grabbing his hands. "Mike and Sulley need all the help they can get." I look up at him and he is avoiding my gaze. "Please, honey?"

I continue to stare him down as he clenches his jaw, trying to look everywhere but me. He closes his eyes, gritting his teeth. "Alright, fine," He says before opening his eyes and pointing at my friend, who looks up at him, her three tails swaying behind her. "You can come," He says and as she begins to walk to the car Johnny calls out to her. "But no more jumping out in front of monsters' cars!"

Lily turns back to give Johnny a sarcastic salute before climbing into the back seat. I start to the car but am yanked back as Johnny pulls me up to his face, his eyes both mischievous and hostile. "And don't you think you're going to get away with this shit you just pulled on me." He gives me a playful growl and I return an innocent smile before sauntering over to the car.

And there you have it! Surprise, it really was just an elaborate prank. You're welcome. I honestly had planned to do that so I wanted to hurry to get this chapter out before too many people lost their minds. Now that Lily is in the mix what kind of mayhem will this group cause over at the factory, and what fate befalls Ginger after helping Reed and Lily scheme the ultimate prank on Johnny? Well, only time will tell! I hope you guys are still enjoying! I love all the wonderful feedback and thank you for your continued support! Much love to you all and until the next chapter bye-bye!